Family will advise on causes with 10-year-old's fun-loving spirit in mind

IN HER MEMORY: Jessica Ridgeway was ecstatic to attend a cheer camp put together by cheerleaders from Standley Lake High School. Now a new fund dedicated to the slain 10-year-old's memory will help other children attend similar camps.
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COURTESY WESTMINSTER PD
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How to donate

The Broomfield Community Foundation accepts donations to the Jessica Ridgeway Legacy Fund, which will support youth initiatives in her memory. Members of Jessica's family help decide where funds will go.

As a bubbly, energetic 10-year-old, Jessica Ridgeway wanted to be a cheerleader. Now, the Jessica Ridgeway Legacy Fund will help fund cheer camps and other youth initiatives in her honor.

The Broomfield Community Foundation approved the new fund in December, and on Friday, Broomfield-based Community Financial Credit Union donated $10,000 to the fund as seed money.

Jessica's family will help direct where funds will go by keeping her fun-loving spirit in mind.

"She was just so full of energy, just bouncing off the walls. She loved to dance and make up her own songs," said Rebecca Ridgeway, Jessica's aunt.

The Broomfield Community Foundation will manage community donations and help direct funds to programs and organizations Jessica would have supported, including camps or other activities for kids. This summer, money likely will go toward a weeklong cheer camp for boys and girls ages 6 to 12.

Rebecca Ridgeway said she remembers how excited Jessica was to go to a cheer camp put together by cheerleaders from Standley Lake High School.

"She was loving it. It was the best time of her life, she told me," she said.

Jessica was killed in October. She was last seen Oct. 5, heading to school from her Westminster home. Her body was found Oct. 10 in an open space area in Arvada.

When Jessica went missing, her family approached their longtime credit union, Community Financial Credit Union, to set up an account for incoming donations. Members of the community wanted to donate money to help with the search effort and needed a place to donate.

The money was still in the account after police arrested 17-year-old Austin Sigg, who is accused of killing Jessica.

"The family didn't want to keep (the money.) They wanted to put that money back into the community," said Lisa Herman, the credit union's chief operations officer.

To set up a long-term fund, the credit union connected the family with the Broomfield Community Foundation. To augment the donations that trickled in during the search for Jessica, the credit union donated $10,000 to the new Jessica Ridgeway Legacy Fund.

The credit union got the money from its Pay it Forward program, which asks members to donate a portion of their annual member bonus to a charitable cause. For the past five years, the credit union has returned a portion of some members' earned interest or interest paid on loans. Of the $300,000 paid back to its members, members donated $10,000 of it back, Herman said.

"That will serve as seed money for this important fund," she said.

As a Foundation donor-advised fund, the Ridgeway family will have a say in where the donations will go, said Karen Smith, director of the Broomfield Community Foundation.

Jessica's mother, Sarah Ridgeway, Jessica's grandmother, Christine Ridgeway, and Rebecca Ridgeway will serve as the main points of contact for the account, but the whole family will be involved in decision making.

Rebecca Ridgeway said the Broomfield Community Foundation has provided a reliable way to manage the funding. The Foundation handles everything from paperwork to thank-you notes to donors.

"It takes a lot of stress off of the family, so we don't have to figure out who will be in charge of the finances," she said. "We can just focus on Jessica and her legacy instead."

Though a cheer camp is likely the first order of business, Ridgeway said the family will work together to find other deserving organizations and events that fit the spirit of Jessica's caring and cheerful personality.

The Ridgeways hope to support community programs for years to come.

Within five years, the Broomfield Community Foundation expects the fund to generate a $25,000 endowment.

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